Page:Dave Porter in the Gold Fields.djvu/189

Rh lead him while we are on this narrow part of the trail."

"Are you hurt, Phil?" asked Dave.

"I—I guess not!" was the panting answer. "But I—I sure did think I was going over there!" And the shipowner's son shuddered.

"Your cheek is cut, Dave!" cried Roger. "How did that happen?"

"Oh, it's only a scratch—made by a flying stone," was the answer. "It doesn't amount to anything."

"I didn't dream that this trail would be so dangerous," went on the senator's son. "If I had known it, I wouldn't have asked you fellows to come along."

"Oh, it's not so bad," returned Phil, hastily. "That horse was awkward—he's the worst of the bunch."

"That's right, an' they had no right to hire me such a hoss," put in Tom Dillon. "When we git back I'll give that feller who did it a piece o' my mind. I tole him I wanted critters used to the mountain trails. The hosses we are ridin' are all right, but this one, he's a sure tenderfoot. He ought to be in the city, behind a truck."

Soon the narrow portion of the rocky trail was left behind and then all of the boys breathed easier.

"That trail back thar is bad enough," was Tom